By ERIC ANDERSON Business editor

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, May 29, 2010

U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter said Friday that CSX Transportation and federal railroad officials had reached an agreement on plans to build a third track that would be dedicated to passenger trains, apparently moving ahead the effort to introduce high-speed rail operations between Schenectady and Buffalo.

The new track will have to meet CSX's requirement that it be separated by at least 30 feet from the nearest freight track, something CSX insisted on to protect the safety of its own employees.

That likely will require either some land acquisition along parts of the right-of-way where there isn't enough room to separate the tracks, or perhaps lower maximum speeds in those areas where the tracks are closer than 30 feet.

"I appreciate CSX's readiness to do their part to make the promise of high-speed rail in New York a reality," Slaughter said in a prepared statement.

"It's a good thing that the parties are talking, but there are still many questions left unanswered," he said. "In my meeting with CSX this week I urged them to work as closely as possible with New York State to hammer out an agreement that will preserve our high-speed rail money, and this is a step in a right direction.

"Until the process is complete and shovels are in the ground," he added, "I will continue to press both sides to work quickly and productively."

Indeed, the agreement appears to depend on the outcome of an environmental impact statement that will look at various project alternatives. It also says that "the parties are in no way committing to implementation of the project or binding themselves to any further steps concerning the project."

And it likely will be some time before any work will actually be done. The agreement estimates the impact statement won't be completed until 2012.

While the goal is to operate trains at speeds of 110 mph, that's well below current standards in Europe and Asia, where high-speed trains routinely operate at speeds of 150 mph or more.

Trains west of Schenectady currently are limited to speeds no greater than 79 mph.

Eric Anderson can be reached at 454-5323 or by email at eanderson@timesunion.com.